The halls are alive with the sound of music! We have had many exciting musical activities happen this month in K4 through 12th grade!
On Friday, May 3rd, our middle school and high school bands attended the Music in the Parks Competition hosted at Six Flags Great Adventure. The Music in the Parks organization is celebrating over 40 years of inspiring students through music! According to their website, “Music in the Parks is a day-long or two-day festival for student choral, orchestral, and band ensembles, held annually across the United States. Music groups perform before adjudicators who rate the ensemble in the morning, and then spend the day at an amusement park. The day culminates with an awards ceremony.” This year the middle school band came in 5th place and the high school band played “When the Saints Come Swinging In” and “Chameleon” winning them the 1st place trophy!
On May 17th, we held our annual Elementary Spring concert.
This year the name of the musical production was Danny and the Shacks created by Christy Semsen and arranged by Daniel Semsen. Our 5th grade actors and actresses were Daniel B., Jaden C., Aaron D., Mason L., Marian N., Carter A., Liam M., Meira S., Lily M., Jassiel C., and Joslyn D. with special guest appearance by Mr. Barr. Ms. Brookman did an incredible job, as always, preparing the students for their performance!
The concert part of the night featured the 5th grade band playing “Mexican Jumping Bean” “London Bridge Duets” and “Capetown Races” by John O’Reilly and K4 singing “Best Day Ever” and “Hosanna Rock” in Spanish! Ms. Simmons’ Link Up Honors students also contributed to the night. They played “Take the A,B,C, or G Train” composed by Duke Ellington and arranged by Paul Jennings and “Less is More”, composed by Les Paul and arranged by Paul Jennings.
In addition to playing during the spring concert, part of the Link Up Honors program is the opportunity to play at Carnegie Hall. This year’s program is called “The Orchestra SWINGS.” Over 2,500 students from the tri-state area participated in the live interactive concert with the Carnegie Hall Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble on May 23rd. The 3rd and 4th graders participating in the concert is the culminating event after learning this year about swing and jazz music through the works of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, and contemporary composers. The program is skills based where they learn to read music and play a soprano recorder. The students will finish out the year with performances in front of their classmates!
Music continues to sound as the middle school and high schoolers prepare for their upcoming Band and Choir concert. This year’s theme is Music Around the World! We hope to see you there on June 4th at 7pm to support our students and continue to celebrate the music programs at TCS!